basic HTML structure
by Workshop, 8 July 1998the basic structure of a HTML document
All HTML documents must begin with a <HTML> tag and end with a </HTML> tag. This tells the browser that the document is a HTML document and to display it as such. All HTML documents have a HEAD section and a BODY section.
The HEAD section describes the document in general terms, such as the document's title that is to be displayed on the title bar of the browser and other things such as the author of the document.
The BODY section is where the content of the page that is displayed in your browser screen is defined, and makes up the majority of your web page.
The basic structure of a web page is defined below. You may use it as a basis for your HTML documents by copying it and pasting it into a text editor (If you are using Windows, you could open up Notepad, highlight the HTML code shown below with your mouse and hold down the CTRL key while pressing the C key to copy it. You then paste it into your Notepad program by changing to Notepad and holding down the CTRL key while pressing the V key to paste the HTML code into your Notepad text editor). You should then save it as template.html somewhere on your hard drive.
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Insert your page title here
</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
</BODY>
</HTML>
learn by example
One of the best ways to learn how to write HTML documents for your web site is to surf around the web and see how other people have done it. When you see a page you like, you can view the HTML source code that the browser reads to format the page that it is displaying.
screen shot of a previous Riada homepage
On your browser's menu, there is usually a menu option called View. Under this menu option, there will most likely be a sub option called "HTML" or "Source" or "Page Source" or something to this effect. If you select this option, a window will come up showing you the HTML code the browser has read to display the HTML document you are currently viewing. Follow through the HTML code and the page to see how things are done!